[Traveler] Traveler looked at Mara for the first time and allowed himself to take in her visage. ~What she wears has little bearing on how she looks!~ "Uhhh, Mara you look...(looking her over, again)...great. I don't think you need to worry about _not_ looking good in your clothes, whatever they are. Why don't you have something to eat. I purchased extra, so Carriac and I could get our fill, too." [Mara] Mara smiled, pulling the cloak from her shoulder so Traveler could get a better look at her new outfit, as she eyed the food that he had bought back at the market. Her stomach protested the fact that she should be eating, and not just looking. But she felt...ashamed for the things she had said earlier about Traveler, and she hung her head. "Could I just have a little bread and some cheese? I promise I'll not eat to much." [Traveler] "Very well, I'll bring some over," he said not really sure at her reaction. [Mara] Mara smiled weakly, taking the small loaf of bread and the brick of cheese from Travelers hand, her fingers tracing across his as she nodded. "Thank you," she whispered, before pulling the food to her chest, her dagger suddenly appearing in her other hand, slicing bits and pieces of the cheese and bread, as she stuffed them in her mouth. All the while she was trying to hide the food from Traveler and Carriac, pulling her knees up as she turned away, acting as if they would take them back from her. She felt threatened for some reason, her stomach suddenly tying itself in knots. Yet she nibbled on, keeping an ever-watchful eye on the pair as they talked. [Carriac] An idea tickled at the back of Carriac's brain as he watched Mara tear into the food. There was something to this� Carriac popped a bit of cheese into his mouth as Traveler returned to his seat "Seems like we've come full circle today. We met as strangers over a table, sharing a meal and now here we sit, still strangers, still eating. Where does this leave us?" [Traveler] "Well, I know we set out to the Great Oracle and all then we bumped in to this girl. I still don't know who I am, and it's obvious she doesn't know anything about herself. I'm thinking we should carry on to this oracle and get some answers." [Carriac] "I agree, particularly for Mara's sake. Though it will be a long and difficult journey to Taradhi. I wonder if she can bear it. "Perhaps we SHOULD look for a helpful dragon," he mused. ((OOC -See tribond_precursor for reference�)) [Traveler] "So much has happened in so little a time. We need to give this girl some time to adjust to what she is, and help her to control it a little. She seems to be afraid of the water. I was hoping for that. It is a good spot for us, just in case she goes all... hot n bothered, like she did back in the INN." [Carriac] The little tickle in his mind blossomed into a full grown memory. Carriac remembered a time, long ago, when a kind soul had taken in another elven youth, ripening with a power he could hardly understand, let alone ever hope to control. He remembered the patient lessons, the quiet support through repeated failures and the indescribable joy at the eventual mastery. He remembered Detrius describing the development of his own elemental powers�. "The key to controlling Mara's powers, at least initially, is to control her intake of food. If Mara is indeed a burgeoning 'firestarter', and not an elemental adept of sorts, then her power is fueled by the energy within her. That energy is replenished only as fast as she receives sustenance - fuel for the fire, if you will. As Mara eats, she grows in power. The power is stored until released and since she hasn't learned control, that release comes at unexpected times - usually during great emotional stress." The portly elf tore off a piece of bread and glanced at Mara. She lay in a fitful sleep. "This, of course, assumes that Mara is what she pretends to be and not some talented con artist out to influence us toward some evil purpose." Carriac smiled as surprise registered in Traveler's eyes. "I know you think I am easily taken in by pretended innocence and flirtatious feminine wiles. I admit that Mara tugs at my heartstrings sometimes. I am reminded of other elven children�." He paused for a moment, eyes fixed on some unspoken scene of the past. "Still," he continued, "I have lived long enough to know that such things can be used by the clever to ensnare the hearts and affections of the gullible. I assure you that I am not one of those. That being said, I do not believe that Mara is deceiving us. The purely physical reactions of her condition, her inability to exercise control�these things agree with my experience. If she is faking those symptoms, she is very good at it. "The mood swings, however, are an entirely different matter. These I cannot account for. Perhaps she is truly mentally ill. I hope this is not the case. I hope that such things come as a result of being released from a period of slavery. We don't know what things she was forced to endure as a slave, but they may have permanently scarred her. Only time will tell if such wounds will be healed." Carriac looked back at the sleeping form. "Until such time as she _is_ healed, I place her under my protection and take her as my ward. It is the way of my people. Should she turn out to be deceiving us�well, I'll deal with that problem when it arises." [Mara] Mara nibbled on the bread and cheese, while she listened to Carriac and Traveler chatting. She had a number of questions, sure, but at that time, they seemed unimportant. Her stomach was full, and the gentle sounds of the river were lulling her to sleep. Before long, her eyes lashes slowly dropped to her cheeks, and her head rested against the back of the tree. Soon the long silent memories started to spring forth once again. But these were nightmares, nightmares that she's had before, not like the warming dreams of her childhood. Dreams are at times pleasant, sometimes a bit strange and funny, but nightmares are never funny. They are the darker side of dreams where the subconscious mind fears to tread. But there are times that the mind does not have a choice in the matter. Lacy's dreams were always like that. When all of her dreams were seen as nightmares. Mara could hear voices talking while she slept. Voices that were not but whispers, lost in the mists of steam and fire that always seemed to surround her in her sleep. Words, sometimes strange and frightening would echo around her, as she tried to see who, or what was speaking them. But the mist and the flames would always push her back, forcing her to look away. "Will this one survive? The others did not," she could hear someone saying. She tried to turn her head, but the iron collar around her forehead made it difficult to even move, not counting the ones that held her arms, legs and chest down. In all she had three thick iron bars across her body, and one around each wrist, leaving her legs free at certain times, during certain days. She could feel the cold stone slab on her skin as she fought to break free, yet the iron bars did not yield to her body. As she relaxed, she heard another voice. A familiar voice that she had heard over time. "Yes! This one has survived all the tests to date, though I have no reason to give you, as to why the others failed. This is experiment number twelve. She has been a very good subject from day one. She is Elven, which might be the reason why things are going so well. She holds certain healing abilities, as most Elven kind do." Mara could hear that voice through the mist and the flames, and she started to wither and turn in her makeshift bed, pulling the cloak over her head as the cooling air around her send a chill down her back. "The others? How far did you get with them, before they spontaneously combusted? I saw one of our little experiments being swept up in a pail. All I saw was dust, but no bones. Do you know how much heat that takes, to turn a human body to ash?" "Oh yes! I was there when it happened. It took exactly seven seconds, just like the others. I think it was the mixture of the bloods. Too strong of a dose I imagine. The last one almost lived, but she looked like a short fuse that had been lit. The human body has so many different smells when burning that hot. Some not so pleasant..." "I don't wish to hear about the failures. I want results, and fast. You have until next week, or the next experiment will be you on that slab of stone if I do not see any better results than what I've seen. Is that understood?" "Y...Yes sir...! You will see though. She will be the most powerful weapon known to man, once she learns to harness her powers. She will be unstoppable, if we're able to control her..." "She had better be able to control! For the money I'm paying you, and the loss of the other eleven she had better be the best weapon know to man, and the gods. Just be sure to wipe her mind free when she's presented to me. I want to train her... Personally! Just be sure to place the collar around her neck, before bringing her to me. If cant trust you to do the job right, I'll find someone that can. And you know that the number thirteen is not a lucky number..." Mara tossed and turned as her nightmare flashed forward, and she could see forms around her, misguided shapes and forms, like she was looking at them through the waves of heat around her. She could feel her body being touched and pinched by gloved hands, see the forms wearing strange white robes that covered their bodies like a glove, with thick dark glass that hid their faces from her sight. The forms stuck needles of steel in her arms, and she could feel her body growing warmer as they held her down with long, pincher like apparatuses that circled her arms and legs. The steam and flames grew around her, as she felt so light, her body rose up from the cold stone slab, if just for an instant, before a waterfall fell across her skin, causing her body to grow stiff with pain. She could hear herself trying to scream, as the water rushed over her like a large wave, felt her body being crushed back down by the sheer force of the wave. More steam rose around her and the flames died, with the scent of sulfur and brimstone burning her nose and mouth as she tried to catch her breath. The iron bars around her were now blackened, and pitted where they once rubbed her body raw. She could feel herself being flipped over on her stomach, after the bars were removed, and frantic voices could be heard , yelling to hurry before the flames grew up once again. The strange part was her skin. Even with all that water rushing over her, she was bone dry. Mara woke up suddenly, her eyes all aglow as she turned and met the stares coming from Carriac and Traveler. Where her hands rested against the ground, there were scorch marks in the shapes of her hands. She had burnt the ground so hot, that it still puddled up like lava as steam and debris dropped from the palms of her hands "I had a bad dream. I guess I dozed off. Sorry..." [Carriac] The shaper could see the look of confusion cross the elf maid's face as she discovered the state of the ground near her. He acted quickly to head off the inevitable guilt. Placing a palm on the ground by his side, Carriac sent forth a mental command into the earth. Solid, cool dirt from deeper down exchanged places with the hot mud in the blink of an eye, leaving the area around Mara solid and normal looking. "It's all right to have a bad dream, dear," he spoke in a soothing tone. "It's _NOT_ all right to fret over them. We'll talk about it later on over dessert. "As for now, I was about to give Traveler a little gift." Carriac reached into a pocket and pulled out a small bundle of leather. "You were kind enough earlier today to purchase quite a number of items from that little shop we visited. I'm sure you realized that it would have been less costly to you if you had purchased the items as they were and asked me to 'improve' upon them for you later. Instead, you paid the shopkeeper and enabled me to fill my purse at your expense. Such an act towards someone you hardly know is indicative to me of a kind heart and noble soul. If nothing else, I know I will start on our journey with a good man at my side. Allow me to thank you in my own fashion." He unrolled the little bundle and held out a single black glove. "It's not much to look at, but I hope it will serve you well." The left-handed glove Carriac had purchased at the market had been transformed into something marvelous. There was a glint of metal on it as the shaper turned it over for the others to examine. A fine metal mesh had been woven around and into the leather, covering almost the entire outer surface of the glove. The weave was so fine that even fully covered, the suppleness of the glove was unchanged. "The metal is adamantium," he told them. "This glove cannot be pierced by normal weapons - even enchanted blades will find it difficult to cut. It is lighter and provides more protection than most gauntlets and the metal will never rust. It will also allow you to handle things that are extremely hot or cold to the touch without fear of harm. I hope you will receive it as both a fitting payment for your previous service and as a token of my friendship." He held the glove out to Traveler. [Traveler] He was staring at Mara wondering if they could truly help her gain some control when Carriac began to thank him. Not being used to receiving thanks, or praise Traveler looked from glove to elf not fully grasping what he had happened. As the realization that the man was giving him a Thank You gift sunk in, Traveler managed to take offered glove from Carriac and muttered a polite thank you. Still rather shocked, He took off the glove he wore and pulled the new one in place. It seemed a little tighter than other, but the overall feel was good. As he flexed his hand the glove seemed to stretch a little. There was a slight chill in the glove before the metal woven in to the leather heated to his body temperature. Looking at Carriac once more he said, "I'm not sure how to act, but I thank you for your gift. It's a marvelous creation. I think that being able to handle extremely hot things will soon be handy" [Mara] Wiping the crumbs from her cloak, Mara stood and ran her fingers through her hair. She had wondered what Carriac was going to do with the single glove that he had bought back at the market, and when he brought it out and handed it over to Traveler, her eyes went large. She almost giggled at Travelers lack of words, and she was about to nudge him, to at least say thank you. Stretching her slim form out, she yawned and pulled her arms out, stretching her muscles until they stopped hurting. "Did I hear someone say something about a great Oracle? And making a difficult journey to Taradhi?" Adjusting her cloak back around her shoulders, she glanced towards the river, and shivered, before looking down at Carriac and Traveler. "Well don't think for a second that your going to leave me behind. Where you go, I go!" With one hand on her hip, she looked down and pointed. "You going to finish that..." before snatching a piece of cheese from the ground, and popping it in her mouth. "OH! It had ants on it!" But that didn't stop her from swallowing it.... [Carriac] "Yes, the _GRAND_ Oracle of Taradhi. Traveler and I discussed it briefly with our companions from earlier this morning. The Oracle will answer one question from any person. Just one. But that answer is always thorough and always truthful. She does charge a slight fee, but we can worry about that when we get there. "The journey is long. We'll have to travel south, then west beyond the mountains. The Oracle's shrine sits in an oasis of the Parched Desert. It will be difficult, but the trip will accomplish several important goals. First, and most immediate, it gets us out of Montfort and away from those who are after Mara. Second, we'll have the opportunity to get to know each other better, a prospect I look forward to. Third, it will give Mara a chance to really discover the nature and extent of her talent, away from the prying eyes of others. Fourth, upon completion of the journey we'll have the answers we seek: Traveler will regain the knowledge of his past, Mara will know where she comes from, and I will have some clue as to my mysterious black out episodes. It will be a grand adventure, one which I will wait no longer to begin." Carriac stood and offered a hand to Traveler to help him up. "Come my friends. Let's get started."
(to be continued...) |